Biden Permanently Blocks Offshore Oil Drilling on Millions of Acres
Biden’s recent decision to block all future oil drilling across 625 million acres of US ocean territory is a bold move with significant long-term implications. The legality of this action hinges on the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which, unusually, allows for presidential decisions under its authority to be permanent, barring Congressional intervention. This means that even a future administration, such as a potential Trump administration, would face a significant hurdle to reverse this policy, needing to change the law itself rather than simply issuing a new executive order.
This raises questions about the potential for both good and bad uses of such permanently binding presidential power.… Continue reading